52 Black-owned businesses receive free business support after MLK Plaza pitch competition

On Saturday, July 15, over a dozen entrepreneurs pitched their businesses to a panel of judges. They each had hopes of winning funding and potentially opening a storefront at the Black-owned business market that Washington, D.C.-based developer Gina Merritt plans to bring to Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. 

At the pitch competition at the Hough Multipurpose Center, an 8 year-old CEO and business owner revealed the backstory of the skin care store she runs with her siblings: wanting to earn money for McDonald’s. The founder of a dog treat company played the song “Who Let the Dogs Out?” as she walked up to the front of the room to present. Other business owners served the panel of judges salads and chicken wings. One competitor shared her vision of bringing a beloved neighborhood candy store back to the plaza.

Designed by Cleveland architect Robert P. Madison, the MLK Plaza building at 9300 Wade Park Ave. is now vacant. Merritt, the principal at development firm Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures (NREUV), plans to demolish the building and redevelop it into a new plaza with mixed income housing and a 7,500-square-foot market hall, which will have a community ownership model. Merritt plans to have financial and conceptual plans for the market hall complete by the first quarter of next year. She’s also working on two affordable housing developments in the Hough neighborhood: one across the street from the MLK Plaza and another at 9410 Hough Ave. Read more about her plans for the three developments here. 

Project Community Capital (PCC), an economic empowerment platform that Merritt founded to help people find jobs and resources for starting and growing businesses, put on the MLK Plaza “Heighten the Hustle” pitch competition. Four finalists ended up winning funding for their businesses, but all 52 businesses that registered will receive free support and resources through a partnership with Cuyahoga Community College, Merritt said. 

“Just because you don’t win the pitch or are not in the top three doesn’t mean you won’t be in MLK Plaza. Because the idea is we want to help support your businesses by helping you create improved business models and a real understanding of what it costs to make your product or service, what your profit margins are, how much it costs to open your location,” Merritt said. “Things like that obviously are important for you to be successful and stay in business. And those are free services we’re going to provide to all 52 participants.”

Merritt and PCC interim director Alexis Green served as judges at the competition alongside Khrys Shefton, the executive director of NREUV’s nonprofit arm WFL Collective; Ward 7 Council Member Stephanie Howse; Byron Solomon, the business development manager at Famicos Foundation, the community development corporation serving the neighborhood; and Ramat Wiley, founder of Adun Spice Company in Shaker Heights. 

PCC’s Cleveland community ambassador Lakiesha Smith, who goes by “Stoney,” moderated the event, engaging and entertaining the audience between pitches. Because of the camaraderie and collaboration among the entrepreneurs, Smith said she “felt like everybody won that day.” PCC announced on social media that the pitch competition will be an annual event, following a suggestion by Howse. Several entrepreneurs who participated in the competition have memories of MLK Plaza and high hopes for its redevelopment. They’re looking forward to receiving mentorship and resources from Merritt’s team. 

Mentorship and collaboration for Black businesses

For pitch competition participant Nita Davidson, the opportunity to receive mentorship from Merritt’s team was the most valuable part of the experience. Davidson took home the third-place prize and $750 in funding for her business Inspector Flow, which teaches people how to become home inspectors.

Robert Hunter, the founder of a program for Black youth called 5 Pillars, said the pitch event didn’t feel like a competition because all the entrepreneurs were working toward a common goal.

“I’m a firm believer that if everyone in the room has the same goal – which we all do – which is community development and economic growth for the community, right then and there it’s really not no competition,” Hunter said. “We (are) all trying to do the same thing.” 

Hunter researched Merritt’s work before participating in the pitch competition. He said that her work stood out to him because he had never heard of developers outside of Cleveland “wanting to build in Cleveland and wanting to build with people in the city.”

Memories of MLK Plaza and hopes for redevelopment

Ja’Mila Hatchett, the founder of Jah’s Catering, is looking for space for her business, and she’s planning to grow her team. She decided to participate in the competition because she’s interested in opening at the historic plaza. Her father lived in the area and told her how the plaza was once a hub of Black-owned businesses. 

Brandy Rawls remembers getting her driver’s license at the DMV at MLK Plaza after moving from California. Now, she wants to open a location there for her dessert shop, CleverDelights Cakes and Sweet Treats. 

DeShaun Julian, the founder of Shaun Juan’s Catering, hopes MLK Plaza will uplift the community and wants to participate in the competition again next year.

Many of the entrepreneurs who pitched said they found out about the event from social media posts by Stoney and Famicos Foundation. Jerrica Fletcher, the founder of dog treat company PawGone Good, is based in Columbus and learned about the pitch competition online. She initially missed the deadline to pitch and signed up solely as a vendor at the event, but a spot later opened up for her to pitch. She won the first-place prize and $1,500 in funding. 

At the competition, PCC added an honorable mention prize, which went to Skin District Store, a business owned by three sisters between the ages of 7 and 11. The store has a location at 12635 Larchmere Blvd. The team hopes to open at MLK Plaza too, and they’re looking to open a salon and spa in Coventry village. 

“I remember what that plaza was like from my childhood, and I felt like bringing my children there would help to build the community as well and help rebuild that area,” said Deborah Aarons, mother of the business owners and a Skin District Store staff member.

Ever since starting their business DressedTuKale, founders Maya and Brian Kincaid have had the goal of opening a brick-and-mortar location for a wine, salad, and charcuterie bar. The $1,000 in funding they received from their second-place win at the competition is helping them achieve that goal. 

Maya Kincaid encouraged fellow entrepreneurs to set their intentions and write them down. “Even before we knew how we would make any of these things happen, we knew what we wanted to make happen,” she said of DressedTuKale. “I would just encourage anyone who’s trying to achieve a goal to start there. Empower yourself by putting your ideas on paper, and then believe in those ideas as hard as you can and just see where they take you.” 

Read this story from June for more about MLK Plaza and Merritt’s two other developments in Hough. Learn more about Project Community Capital and its Heighten the Hustle program here, or follow PCC on Instagram or Facebook. Follow PCC’s Cleveland ambassador Lakiesha “Stoney” Smith on Instagram at @_morethanafelon, and get in touch with the PCC team by emailing interim director Alexis Green at agreen@pccnetwork.net. 

Underwriting support for this article was provided by HFLA of Northeast Ohio, which provides interest-free loans to promote the economic self-sufficiency and growth of Northeast Ohioans who are unable to access safe and fair lending resources.